Trolley-wire finder



(No Model.)

- H. U. JONES.

, TROLLEY WIRE FINDER. No. 503,421. Patented Aug. 15, 1893.

INVENTOR A TTORNEYS.

W/ T/VE SSE S UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY O. JONES, OF MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA.

TROLLEY-WIRE FINDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 503,421, dated August 15, 1893.

Application filed May 31, 1893. Serial No. 476,085. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY 0. Jonas, of Montgomery, in the county of Montgomery and State of Alabama, have invented a new and Improved Trolley-Guide, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in that class of trolley guides which are used in connection with overhead railway electric systems to keep the trolley upon the line wire. The trolley guides are usually pressed upward against the wire by an arrangement of springs, and when they leave the wire they spring above it, thus breaking the circuit and also doing damage to the guys, to the trolley itself and also to things with which the trolley comes in contact.

The object of my invention is to produce a simple and positive breaking apparatus which may be used in connection with any ordinary trolley and pole, and which, when the trolley leaves the wire, automatically returns the trolley to its proper position.

To this end my invention consists in certain features of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved trolley guide, as applied to a trolley pole and wire. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same, showing the trolley pole and line wire in section; and Fig. 8 is a detail section on the line 3--3 in Fig. 2, illustrating particularly the arrangement of the two Washers which control the movement of the central guide pulley to the wire.

The trolley pole 10 is of the usual kind, and

I it is customary to support this pole in such a but, as shown, the pieces are bolted together and in this way clamped securely to the pole. A support made of a single piece with a hole to receive the pole may be substituted, it desired. The clamping pieces 13 have on op posite sides, outwardly projecting studs 14. which serve as a support for the cross bar or bracket 15 of the guide, this bracket extending horizontally from the pole and having a depending band 16 which hangs beneath the pole. This construction leaves the upper portion of the bracket comparatively level and permits the guide mechanism above it to be brought into close contact with the bracket. The bracket 15 is held in a vertical position by means of set screws 17, which project through a curved slot 18 in the bracket and which are fastened to the clamping pieces 13. It will be seen that by loosening the bolts or set screws 17, the bracket 15 may be swung upon the studs let so as to bring it into a vertical position, after which it may be fastened by the set screws 17 so that the bracket may always be brought into the right position without regard to the angle of the trolley pole 10. The outer ends of the bracket 15 terminate in sleeves 19, through which extend the vertically movable posts 20 which have flanges 21 at their lower ends to limit their upward movement, and which at their upper ends terminate in bearings 22 in which the cross shaft 23 turns. To the shaft 23 are secured spools 24, which have spiral threads thereon, coarse enough to lit the line wire 12, and the threads of the spools run toward the center of the guide where the spools connect with the guide pulley 26, this pulley running loosely on the shaft 23 between the two guide spools 24:. The guide spools have their spiral threads terminating in an inclined groove 25, so that when the wire 12 strikes this portion of the spools it naturally slides upon the guide pulley, but it is prevented from sliding upon the pulley until the spools are raised to the right height by the washers 26, which are arranged between the spools and the pulley, as shown best in Fig. 2, and which normally project upward above the meeting edges of the spools and pulley, and when in this position, the wire 12, if it has been thrown upon one of the spools, is held on the inclined portion 25 of the spools and against the adjacent washer 26 until the guide has been raised sufficiently to permit the transfer of the wire to the guide pulley and its return to the main trolley wheel, all as hereinafter described. The spools 24 are preferably provided at their outer ends with flanges 27, which prevent any accidental slipping off .of the wire when it is on the spools. The outer ends of the spools are also provided with beveled gear wheels 28 which. mesh with horizontal gear wheels 29 on the ends of the screw shafts 30, which shafts turn in threaded hearings in the bracket 15, and the pitch of the screws is such that after the spools have been raised, their weight will cause the screw shafts to turn back so as to permit the spools to drop.

The guide washers 26 are provided with rela tively large openings 31 through which the shaft 23 extends, and this permits the necessary vertical movement of the washers. The washers are normally pressed upward by springs 32, the free ends of which press against the washers, and the springs are secured to a cross bar 33 which is carried by the posts 20 and the ends of which are secured to the posts so that thebar moves upwardin unison therewith.

To the lower edges of the washers and'to the free ends of the springs are secured chains 34:, which are also secured to the bracket 15, and the length of the chains is such that when the guide has been raised into the proper position, to slip the Wire from one of the spools 24: to the loose pulley 26, the chains will be tightened and any further upward movement of the spools and posts 20 causes the tension of the chains to hold down the springs and washers so that their lower edges are flush with the upper edges of the loose pulley. This movement will de understood by reference to Fig. 3, in which the two positions of the washers are shown by dotted lines.

The operation of the apparatus is asfollows:-WVhen the trolley wheel 11 leaves the Wire 12 the upward movement of the pole 10 brings the wire 12 into contact with one of the spools 2 1. The friction of the spool on the wire causes the spool to be turned and this turns the gear wheels 28 and 29, and also the screws 30, so that the shaft 23 and the spools thereon are lifted and the wire 12 gradually raised, or the end of the trolley pole depressed, or both. \Vhile this movement is going on the wire is being also carried inward by the groove of the spool 24, and when it reaches the inclined end 25 of the spool it rests against the washer 26 until the spool has been raised sufficiently to tighten the chains 34:. By this time the trolley wheel 11 and wire 12 will have been sufficiently separated to bring the upper edge of the trolley Wheel below the bottom of the wire, and the tension of the chains depresses the washers 26 so that the wire 121slides upon the loose pulley 26 and is thus brought in alignment with the trolley.

wheel11,which may resume its position on the wire. As soon as the wire strikes the pulley 26, the spool 24 will cease to turnin a direction to raise the guide spools, and the weight of the spools and adjacent mechanism, together with the rattle and vibration of the same, will cause the screws 30 to turn back and thus permit the guide spools to drop into their former position.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent-: I

1. 'A trolley guide, comprising the usual trolley pole and wheel, the oppositely arranged spoolssupported on the trolley pole and provided with spiral threads having an inward pitch, a loose pulley journ'aled'between the inner ends of the spools, and a screw mechanism actuated by the turning of the spools and adapted to raise the spools and their support, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the trolley pole and trolley wheel, of horizontally extending spools supported on the pole and provided with spiral threads having an inward pitch, a loose pulley journaled between the inner ends of the spools, vertically movable washers arranged between the pulley and the spools, vertically movable washers arranged between the spools and the loose pulley, the screw mechanism actuated by the movement of the screws and adapted to raise the spools, and a device to limit the movements of the washers on the upward movement of the guide, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the trolley pole and trolley, of a bracket carried by the pole, a vertically movable shaft journaled in supports on the bracket, spiral guide spools secured to the shaft and provided with threads having an inward pitch, a loose pulley journaled on the shaft between the guide spools, and screw shafts supported in the bracket and geared to the guide spools, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with the trolley pole and trolley, of a bracket supported thereon and provided with terminal sleeves,vertically movable posts held to slide in the sleeves, a shaft supported in the posts, guide spools secured to the shaft and provided with inwardly-extending threads, a loose pulley mounted on the shaft between the guide spools, and screw shafts supported in the bracket and geared to the guide spools, substantially as described. 1

5. The combination, with the trolley pole andtrolley, of a bracket supported on the pole, vertically movable posts carried by the brackct, a shaft supported on the posts and extending horizontally above the trolley pole, guide spools secured to the shaft and provided with threads having an inward pitch, a loose pulley journaled on the shaft between the guide 1 spools, a screvfmechanismfor raising the soaem movable washers between the loose pulley and the inner ends of the spools, substantially the inner ends of the spools, upwardly pressed Washers arranged between the spools and the loose pulley, and means for stopping the washers during the upward movement of the spools, substantially as described.

8. The combination, with the trolley pole and trolley, of a clamping piece secured to the trolley pole, a bracket pivoted on the clamping piece and provided with means for fixing its position in relation to the pole, and the guide mechanism supported on the bracket, substantially as described.

HENRY C. JONES.

Witnesses:

P. G. MAssIE, G. M. MARNs. 

